How To Calculate Macros: Track Macros to Transform Your Body

Why invest hours upon hours in the gym, only to squander them in the kitchen? You can control whether you gain or lose weight, and how quickly your weight changes, by following a simple method. Here’s how…

If you are truly serious about losing fat and gaining muscle, you need to calculate macros. It may sound complicated at first, but tracking your macronutrients and calories is much easier than it sounds, especially if you use an application such as MyFitnessPal.

Step 2: Record Body Weight

Next, record your body weight in pounds by weighing yourself while undressed. If you use the metric system, multiply your body weight in kilograms by 2.2 to get your weight in pounds.

Step 4: Calculate Macros

Now it’s time for a little math. Don’t run, it’s easy.

Total Calories (TC) = Body Weight (BW) x Activity Level (AL)

Protein (P)

Bulking = BW * 0.8 grams

Cutting = BW * 1.2 grams

Fat (F)

Higher Fat Diet = BW * 0.6 grams

Lower Fat Diet = BW * 0.2 grams

Carbs (C)

Carbs = ( ( TC – ( (P * 4) + (F * 9) ) ) / 4 ) grams

That last bullet may seem intimidating, but the formula is simply calculating the calories for protein and fat, then subtracting them from the total daily calories and dividing by four to get the proper grams of carbs.

If you can’t plug in a few values and figure out a little math, get your life together.

Modifications

The main reason to calculate macros is to determine which macronutrient profile works best for your body and style of training.

None of this is set in stone.

Everyone responds differently to various diets and training programs. The goal is to learn how YOUR body works best.

Feel free to tweak the numbers as you go along. Add or subtract from your total grams of each macronutrient, until you find a combination that works best for you. I’ve found mine.

Track your macros until you reach your ideal body weight. Once you make it under 10% body fat, it is much easier to adjust your diet on a daily basis, simply by WATCHING how your body responds to particular foods.

Ladies

Although Masculinity Rising is a blog for men, women can use the same method to calculate macros as well.

Women should use 16, 17, and 18 as the activity level multipliers for bulking, while the rest of the calculations remain the same.